1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a sanitary portable handle cover, and more particularly, to a sanitary portable handle cover for shopping carts to be used in a plurality of stores.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common knowledge that the majority of consumers shopping at stores utilize shopping carts to assist in carrying products to the checkout counters of the stores and to their means of transportation. Such stores providing shopping carts for a consumer's use include grocery, hardware, and retail stores. It is also known that these shopping carts are handled by a plurality of shoppers and portions of the shopping carts namely the shopping cart handle may carry infectious viral and bacterial agents.
For a parent shopping with a small child utilizing the shopping cart there is typically incorporated within the shopping cart a seating area adjacent to the shopping cart handle for allowing a small child to ride in while the parent is able to freely shop without having the hold the small child. Although this may be a convenience for the parent, this may be a potential health issue for the small child. Small children are known to chew on handles of shopping carts which is a direct transmission mode of contracting an infectious agent. Furthermore, small children typically hold the shopping cart handle while riding in the shopping cart and are constantly placing their hands in their mouth as well rubbing their nose and eyes which are other modes of transmitting the infectious agents to the small child and/or from the child to the handle.
A variety of shopping cart handle covers are known to act as a protective barrier to cover a portion of the shopping cart handle for preventing the small child from touching the shopping cart handle. Because shopping carts and other tote devices may be of different widths, the known protective covers may only cover a portion of the shopping cart handle thereby leaving an uncovered portion exposed to the small child which may still present a health risk. For a parent to be assured they have a protective cover that overlays the entire shopping cart handle or the majority of the shopping cart handle, the parent would have to purchase and carry to each store a number of protective covers of different lengths which can ultimately be costly and burdensome.